I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, July 12, 2013

Frightfully Spook-tcular Horror Hosts

They
would usually join us on a Friday or Saturday night after the late night news,
keeping us company through the witching hour, and sometimes scaring the bejesus
out of us.

Horror Hosts of the Past

Ah,
what fond memories many of us have of the local TV horror movie show and the
host. If he or she were a gifted host, you would wade through the B movie, just
to see what they were going to say or do at the next break.

Horror
show hosts are an American icon – dressing in costumes and presenting
B-grade horror movies to TV audiences late at night was a mainstay in the late
1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Every television station seemed to have a “Horror Host”
at some point during these years. And it was easy to achieve...

On set

TV Control Room

Horror
hosts were usually someone who worked at the TV station; the weatherman was a
favorite, a booth announcer, film editor, or cast/crew from the late night news
cast. This was low-budget television at its best.

Vampira

All
you needed was some grease paint, a costume, low lighting, and spooky music to
set the mood.The fact that the
host wasn’t afraid of vamping it up was a definite plus.

The
Shocking Idea:

It
all began in 1957 when Screen Gems released some old Universal horror movies
syndicated to television.The name
given to the show was “Shock”
and local television stations were encouraged to use hosts dressed in a horror
theme. It was a death-defying hit!

... And Spiders

Those Giant Bugs

Then
in the 1960s and 70s, Creature Feature packages were released and included, not
only horror films but science-fiction from the 50’s, British horror films of
the 1960s, and those great; ) Japanese monster movies. The tradition continued
into the 1980s before dying a slow death with the onslaught of the cable and satellite
channels.

The
First Horror Host:

Vampira

Vampira on Her Skull Couch

She
was the original glamour ghoul - The first acknowledged horror host, - Vampira -
and she set the stage for what a horror host should be.Vampira’s show aired in Los Angles on
KABC from 1954 to 1955 for a total of 50 episodes.Vampira, portrayed by Maila Nurmi (1922 –1985) had a pet spider,
Rollo. Her spooky costumes were the basis for Morticia of the Addams Family TV
show in the 1960’s, and her name was a feminized version of the word vampire.

In
the late 50’s, Roland, “The Cool Ghoul” was the host of WCAU’s Shock Theatre in Philadelphia. (Local broadcaster Dick Clark
reportedly named the horror host “The Cool Ghoul.”) Actor John Zacherle
(1918 -) was hired for the part of Roland and hosted all 92 broadcasts, along
with his wife, Joy, who portrayed Roland’s wife, “My Dear,” (whose face you never saw…)Zacherle left Philly for New York City
to host several shows including WPIX’s Chiller Theatre, where Roland became Zacherley and “My Dear”
received a name - Isobel.

Zacherle
continued appearing as a Monster of Ceremonies throughout the 1980’s and 90’s.
But now, at the age of 94, he does limited ghoul appearances.

From
1959 to 1962, Dr. Morgus the Magnificent kept viewers in stitches on Morgus’
“House of Shock” in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr Morgus, portrayed by Sid Noel
(1929 -) a local deejay, and his incompetent lab assistant, Chopsley, were
always looking for ways to develop intelligence in the universe, with
unintentional calamities.

In
1964, Noel went to Detroit to host a horror show there called Morgus
Presents. When it went on the air on
WJBK, the Doctor had a new sidekick, Armsby. When Noel returned to New
Orleans the next year and so did Morgus, where he stayed until he left the show
in 1971.

Morgus Presents

Another
attempt at Morgus Presents was
launched in 1986 and ran until 1989. In 2005, Morgus was again backing on the
air in Louisiana. Sid
Noel was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame in 2011 as his character
Dr. Morgus the Magnificent.

I could find no original Morgus the Magnificent segments.

Here is an opening bit for the 1980’s version of Morgus
the Magnificent

The
1960’s brought a slew of horror hosts to local and regional television. Among
those best remembered:

Sir Graves Ghastly

In His Coffin

Sir
Graves Ghastly made his home in Detroit beginning in 1967, when he found a local station
had just lost their horror host, Morgus the Magnificent…Sir Ghastly took a stab at it and
continued to haunt audiences until 1982 – a total of 15 spooky seasons.
Portrayed by Lawson Deming (1913 – 2007) a television personality, Sir Graves
Ghastly was a vampire who worked the afternoon lineup on Saturdays at WJBK,
introducing horror movies with his signature evil laugh while the cemetery
undertaker Reel McCoy unearthed yet another movie reel from a fresh grave just
for you…

Ghoulardi
was the host of Shock Theatre on WJW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio. Portrayed by Ernie
Anderson, (1923 –1997) local disc jockey and Channel 8’s booth announcer. Ghoulardi was an irreverent host who enjoyed improvising his lines and poking
fun at other Ohio towns (Parma and Oxnard,) along with the unhip, local TV
personalities. It was said that station brass lived in fear of what he would
say or do on the live late night show. With a fake Van Dyke beard and long lab
coat, Ghoulardi, whose name was a pun on the word Ghoul, never failed to
entertain his audience. (Comedian Tim Conway was a writer at the station at
this time and assisted on the show.)

Horror
Host Ghoul Sammy Terry, his
name was a play on the word cemetery, introduced horror films on WTTV in
Indianapolis on Shock Theatre
in the 1960’s and Nightmare Theatre
in the 70’s – 90’s. Portrayed by Bob Carter (1929 – 2013), a local television
personality, Terry’s campy antics with the audience and his pet spider, George,
endeared him to generations of Hoosier horror fans. Carter’s son, Mark took
over the role of Sammy Terry and continues to make frequent guest appearances
across Indiana. (Robert Carter, the inspiration for this post, died June 30,
2013.)

Australian’s
had their own horror host icon in the sixties, Deadly Earnest appeared on
TVW-7. Deadly Earnest’s Awful Movies were a weekly event and audiences loved the zombie undertaker’s black
humor, especially when taking liberties with local commercials. In all, five
men portrayed Deadly Earnest; Ralph Baker, Ian Bannerman, Max Bostock, Hedley
Cullen, and Shane Porteous with Ian Bannerman being the most popular.

About Me

I
love wine and will take any chance to sip, savor and share it! Hence, Joy’s JOY
of Wine http://joysjoyofwine.blogspot.com,
a weekly blog about all things wine. I've been in the industry for 15
years as a winery owner, marketing director, speaker, writer, wine judge, and
100% vino girl!

I'm
also a professional freelance magazine and book writer uncorking articles about
wine, food, history, travel, cemetery history and culture. My interest in
cemetery culture led to another great, or maybe I should say
"grave" gig, my weekly blog: A Grave Interest http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com where I get to travel around the country and speak about cemetery topics for genealogy, history and
education conferences.

I suppose you could say that wine is my
passion, and cemeteries are my diversion ... into another world.

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